Japan to Keep Close Watch Over China’s Aircraft Carrier in Pacific

Japan will closely monitor the Chinese aircraft carrier that was spotted earlier in the Pacific, the Japanese government’s top spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Monday.

The Liaoning aircraft carrier was spotted Sunday passing between Japan’s islands of Okinawa and Mijako in the East China Sea. It is part of a Chinese naval force heading for the Western Pacific Ocean.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga told reporters the presence of a Chinese aircraft carrier in the area demonstrated Beijing’s advanced naval capabilities, the public broadcaster NHK reported.

He added the government was closely monitoring it. The NHK cited Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force officials as saying this was the first time in their knowledge that a Chinese aircraft carrier was carrying out an exercise for global deployment in the Pacific.
[sputniknews.com]
26/12/
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